Braking system.



A. F. BATCHELDER.

BRAKING SYSTEM.

APPLICATION FILED MAIL-5.1914.

Patented Dec. 4, 1917.

Witnesses Inventor:

FT Batche derj ASA F. BA'ICI-IELDEB, 0F GLENVILLE, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO GENERAL ELECTRIC 4 r oririp a:

COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

BRAKING SYSTEM.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. t, TWl W.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, ASA F. BATOHELDER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Glenville, county of Schenectady, State of.

New York, have invented certain newfand useful Improvements in Braking Systems, of which the following is a specification;

Among the difliculties encountered in the operation of high speed trains making frequent stops, the operation of trains on long or frequent hills, and elsewhere, are the excessive wear on the brake shoes produced by the excessive braking that is necessary under the present operating conditions, and from the standpoint of the public at least, the noise and brake shoe dust. These latter difficulties become really serious in the operation of trains underground. One of the objects of my invention is to overcome these difliculties ingreat measure and I do th1s by combining electric braking without brake shoes with the usual air brakes. The electric braking is obtained through a dynamo electric machine attached to a car axle which, when braking, operates as a generator driven by the momentum of the car. Energy is thus taken from the moving vehicle with minimum noise, and with a minimum production of dust and mechanical Wear; the braking is of course, in proportion to the load on the generator and this may be varied to vary the braking force. On electrically driven cars one or more of the driving motors may be utilized as the braking generator or generators.

Now such braking generators are not adapted to bring a car to a complete stop satisfactorily although they can exert great retarding action when the car has considerable headway; the braking force decreases rapidly with the decrease in speed and amounts to little when the car is moving slowly. Therefore, ll combine the usual pneumatic braking and the electric braking,

in general slowin down the vehicle by the electric brakes an completing the stop with the pneumatic brakes; the pneumatic brakes are also adapted to secure emergency operation in the usual manner. Since the electric braking is almost entirely free of the enumerated difliculties inherent in pneumatically pressor 6, and the motormans valve.

applied brake shoes, these difliculties may be reduced to a minimum by using brake shoe braking only tov such an extent as the electric braking needs to be supplemented.

There is still another advantage to be derived from the combination of these brakes. Pneumatic brakes, and all other brakes operating through'brake shoes, are less efiective at high speeds than at low speeds with the same pressure exerted; that is the force resisting the progress of the train is somewhat less-at high than at low speed. The electric braking on the other hand exerts a greater resistive force at high speeds than at low speeds. By combining these two braking means, their eflfects being properly proportioned relatively to each other, approxi- In Fig. 1 a common form of automatic air brake system is shown. 1 is the motormans valve, 2 the train pipe, 3 the triple valve, auxiliary reservoir and brake cylinder, and 4 the reservoir pipe between the main reservoir -5, which is supplied by the air com- At theleft of the figure the motormans valve is shown developed. There are the four usual positions for the motorma'ns valve, release, R, lap L, service S, and emergency E; in the first of these positions the reservoir pipe 4 is connected to the train pipe 2 and the exhaust port 7 of the motormans valve is blanked. In the second or lap position the ports are blanked. In the third or service position S the main reservoir pipe 4 is blanked, while the train pipe 2 is connected to the exhaust 7 through a small opening, thus allowing the air to escape slowly from. the train pipe 2 to produce the mately any desired relation between the usual service application of the brakes. In the emergency position E the train pipe 2 is connected to the exhaust 7 through a large opening, allowing the quick release of pressure in the train pipe, the main reservoir pipe being blanked. Between the service position S and the emergency position E, the motormans valve handle may be rotated through a number of degrees without affecting the pneumatic braking for the purpose of controlling the electric braking as will be later described. It will be understood that the specific form of the air brake apparatus is not particularly material to my invention and that I have illustrated and described this particular air brake apparatus since it is simple and serves as well as any other to illustrate my invention.

The braking generator 8 is a series dynamo electric machine, the rotatable member of which is attached to an axle 30 of the vehicle to which this braking system is attached. This machine may be one of the driving motors of a car, should the car be electrically driven. The control system for controlling this machine when acting as a motor has not been illustrated since it does not affect this invention, it being understood that the machine may be entirely disconnected from the source of energy and that the armature and field windings are con nected in the proper direction for operation as a generator, prior to or at the time that it is required to act as a part of the braking system. The controller 9 for the electric brake is attached tothe motormans valve in this system; this is the preferable construction. The controller is shown developed at the left of the figure. The controller governs the operation of the machine 8 as a generator and the load through which the machine must operate; I have illustrated the generator 9 as connected to operate through three degrees of load. Aresistance member is divided into two parts 10 and 11 and in shunt with each part is an electro-magnetically operated contactor 12' and 13 respectively. One end of the resistance is attached 7 to one brush of the machine 8 as illustrated, and the other end of the resistance may be grounded by the electro-magnetically operated contactor 1 1. The other side of the machine 8 is grounded. Energy for operating the contactors may be supplied in any suitable way as through the shoe 15 which runs on the third .rail supplying energy for driving the car. The wire 16 carries this energy through the car and to a finger on each controller 9. The wires 17, 18 and 19 are directly connected to the solenoids of the contactors 14, 13 and 12 respectively, the other sides of the solenoids being connected to ground. Each of these wires is likewise carried to afinger on each of the controllers 9. Each controller is provided with contacts to engage with the respective fingers as required, and each controller has three operating steps corresponding to the three degrees of load which may be imposed on the machine 8 acting as a generator. These three steps of the controller, in the system illustrated in Fig. 1 are located between the service position and the emergency position E of the motormans "alve and are preferably preceded by a lap position L when all the ports of the pneumatic system are blanked and the local circuit through the machine is open. If desired the contacts on the controllers 9 may be continued to the emergency position E of the motormans valve as indicated in dotted lines, in which case the generator aids in stopping the car not only on a service application of the brakes but also on an emergency application through the motormans handle.

The operation of this system is as follows: With the motormans valve in the release position as shown, the train pipe and connected apparatus are charged with air and the brake shoes released. As the motormans valve is moved to service position S, the brake shoes are applied with a pressure depending on the size of the passage between the train pipe 2 and the exhaust 7 and the length of time the motorman maintains his valve in this position. Ordinarily he may admit but a few pounds pressure to the brake cylinder. The motorman then continues rotating his valve handle, passing to the second lap position L and if he requires lnore braking force, as he will normally, he continues to the electric braking position 21, 22 or 28 as required. The total effort on the car is then the sum of the effort of the air brakes and the effort required to drive the machine 8. On position 21 the contactor 14; is closed and the machine 8 driven by the vehicle acts as a generator through the total resistances 10 and 11. On position 22 of the controller 9, contactors 13 and 14 are closed, the first of these shunting resistance 10 requiring the machine '8 to operate only through the resistance 11, thus increasing its braking effect. On position 23 the total resistances 10 and 11 are cut out and the generator operates on substantially short-circuit giving its maximum braking effect. While the speed of the car is high, the braking effect of the machine 8 is great, but as its speed becomes less, the braking efi'ect of the machine 8 becomes less, but the air brakes already applied are suflicient to complete the stop of the car within a reasonable distance. Also as pointed out before the braking effort of the air brakes increases with the decrease in speed and the braking effort of the machine 8 decreases with the decrease in speed. Thus by properly proportioning the braking eiforts of naaaaee as may best suit the particular case in hand,

without departing from my invention. For example, another relation between the two sides is shown in Fig. 2; here R, L, S and E are respectively the release, lap, service and emergency positions of the motormans valve. But in this case the electric side'of Y the system operates prior to the application all of the brake shoes by the pneumatic side of the .system. With this arrangement of controller and motormans valve, the motorman may first reduce the speed of his car very materially by means of the electric braking alone and only apply the air brakes when it is necessary to supplement the electric brake. The electric braking is here illustrated as continued through the service and emergency positions of the motormans J valve.

While ll prefer that the controllers 9 be attached to operate with the respectiVe motormans valves 1 this is not a re uisite of my invention.

The structure and operatlon of the system may of course be greatly changed without departing from the spirit of my invention which is defined in the following claims.

What I claim as new and desire to 'secure by Letters Patent of the United States is 1 l. 0n a vehicle, the combination with an air brake system, of a dynamo electric machine the rotatable member of which is operatively associated with a wheel of the vehicle, means for utilizing the dynamo electric machine for braking and a controller for such means mechanically connected to the engineers brake valve to operate therewith.

2. On a vehicle, the combination with an air brake system, of a dvnamo electric machine the rotatable member of which is operatively associated with a wheel of the vehicle, means for utilizing the dynamo electric machine for braking and a controller for such means mechanically connected to the engineers brake valve to oper ate therewith so that in stopping the vehicle the dynamo electric machine may he utilized to decrease its speed and the air brake may complete the stop.

-' '3 @n a vehicle, the combination with an of the vehicle, means for electrically braking the vehicle Without brake shoes by connecting said dynamo-electric machine as a braking generator, and a controller for such means operable to vary the braking force of said machine independently of the variation of the braking force of the air-brakes. I

4. On a vehicle, the combination with an air brake system, of a dynamo electric machine the rotatable member of which is 0peratively associated with a wheel of the vehicle, variable means for loading the dynamo-electric machine as a generator to make it to act as a brake for the wheel with which it is associated and a controller for such means mechanically connected to the engineers brake valve to operate therewith.

5. On a vehicle, the combination with an air brake system, of a dynamo electric machine the rotatable member of which is operatively associated with a wheel of the vehicle, variable means for loading the dyna; I

which it is associated and av controller for,

such means mechanically connected to the engineers brake 'valve' to operate therewith so that in stopping the vehicle the dynamo electric machine may be utilized to decrease its speed and the air brake may complete the stop.

6. On a vehicle, the combination with an air brake system, of a dynamo-electric machine the rotatable member of which is operatively associated with a wheel of the ve hicle, means for electrically braking the vehicle without brake shoes by connecting said dynamo-electric machine as a short circuited braking generator, and a controller for varying the resistance of said short circuit, the two braking systems being adapted to cooperate in braklng the vehicle.

7. On an electrically driven car, the combination with an air brake system, of means for electrically braking the vehicle without brake shoes by connecting the motor of said car as a short 'circuited braking generator, and a controller for varying the resistance of said short circuit operable independently of the variation of the braking force of the air brakes.

8. @n an electrically driven car, the combination with an air brake system, of means for closing a local circuit through a driving motor of the car and for varying the amount of resistance in said local circuit, and a controller for said means operating with the engineers brahe valve.

t). On a vehicle, the combination with an air brake system operahle tor braking the ltd vehicle in the usual manner, of a dynamoelectric machine the rotatable member of which is operatively associated With a Wheel of the vehicle, means for electricallv braking the vehicle Without brake shoes by connecting said dynamo-electric machine as a braking generator, a resistance for controlling the value of the load on said braking generator, and a controller operable to vary 10 the amount of said resistance effective on the load on said"braking generator independ- ASA F.- BATOHELDER; Witnesses:

BENJAMIN B. HULL, Bnvrs P. Connors, 'Jr. 

